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Lockheed C-121A Constellation, Columbine II,
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Air Force One" |
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Updates on Columbine II Project |
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Latest messages at the top |
4/29/15 |
Good News for Columbine II |
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Dynamic Aviation of Bridgewater, VA has decided to proceed with the purchase of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential aircraft, Columbine II. The 1948 Lockheed C-121A Constellation was the first presidential airplane to be called "Air Force One." |
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Karl. D. Stoltzfus Sr., founder of Dynamic Aviation and the drive behind the restoration project, says, "After extensive inspection and repairs on the aircraft we are ready to accept it, and to proceed with closing in June. Many challenges remain before we can fly it to Virginia but we are now confident that it is feasible." |
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Stoltzfus' interest lies in his desire to preserve Columbine II as a symbol of America's integrity and that of our leaders in that era. Plans are to fly it to Bridgewater, VA for restoration and to then operate it on the air show circuit. Some very ambitious plans to take Columbine II to major anniversary celebrations for events of the 1940's and 1950's are under consideration. |
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Stoltzfus says, "People thank me for leading Dynamic in the preservation of this national treasure. However, the real credit goes to Harry Oliver and Lockie Christler, its present owners, who saw its value back in the 1990's and did major work on it at that time. Without their dedication and their efforts to preserve it, it would most likely have been melted down long ago." |
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He continues, "While Dynamic is heading up this project, it could certainly only happen with the generous participation of others. Among them is Scott Glover and his Mid America Flight Museum of Mt. Pleasant, TX. They have played a key role to this point and are dedicated to the completion of the effort. Glover and his team have provided many hours of skilled labor and support in various ways." |
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No date has been set for the flight to Virginia. Present hopes are to have the aircraft fully airworthy and to fly it home as a certificated aircraft rather than on a ferry permit, which obviously extends the time needed to prepare it for flight. |
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4/16/15 |
Ok, here's some photos that Dynamic's Dan Gleason sent me recently to give us a better idea of what's happening in Marana. See notes below each group, starting with the photo on the left. |
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Scott Glover and his guys find a shaded place to work in the Arizona sun. That's Dynamic's King Air 200 in the background. |
"Ooooh yes, this is what we came for!" Karl says those 3350's have a beautiful sound with their two rows of nine cylinders each. |
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At first I thought this was a shaded work station for such desert projects but it turns out it is really a food stand! |
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They're going through the brakes. The Connie originally had expander tube brakes but Columbine II now has the Goodyears. Here it is all gone through and ready to install. |
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They're working on the Connie from stem to stern. A lot goes on in there, so cleaning, inspection and lubrication are vital! |
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Consultation time. I wonder if Karl's cardiologist knows about this? |
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Lots of flap there! And they're not just "Plain Janes" like on so many airplanes. These Connies are a work of art! |
It takes a lot of equipment to do this job right! |
Another high-level consultation. That's Brian Miklos, Dynamic's Project Leader, second from the right. |
This is probably after they saw three rattlesnakes, with one witness saying "I saw him heading off that way." (Or, did "head off" have a different meaning for the rattlesnake?" |
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Karl is not obsessive compulsive, but this is what is sure to happen when he sees this! |
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Our photographer Dan Gleason flies Karl's T-6G, C-47, King Air's and DeHavilland Dash 8's, but he flunked his type rating check ride in SuperTug because he missed a detail on the preflight. |
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Arizona desert in the spring! |
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4/16/15 |
Ok, here's some photos that Dynamic's Dan Gleason sent me recently to give us a better idea of what's happening in Marana. See notes below each group, starting with the photo on the left. |
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Scott Glover and his guys find a shaded place to work in the Arizona sun. That's Dynamic's King Air 200 in the background. |
"Ooooh yes, this is what we came for!" Karl says those 3350's have a beautiful sound with their two rows of nine cylinders each. |
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At first I thought this was a shaded work station for such desert projects but it turns out it is really a food stand! |
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They're going through the brakes. The Connie originally had expander tube brakes but Columbine II now has the Goodyears. Here it is all gone through and ready to install. |
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They're working on the Connie from stem to stern. A lot goes on in there, so cleaning, inspection and lubrication are vital! |
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Consultation time. I wonder if Karl's cardiologist knows about this? |
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Lots of flap there! And they're not just "Plain Janes" like on so many airplanes. These Connies are a work of art! |
It takes a lot of equipment to do this job right! |
Another high-level consultation. That's Brian Miklos, Dynamic's Project Leader, second from the right. |
This is probably after they saw three rattlesnakes, with one witness saying "I saw him heading off that way." (Or, did "head off" mean something different for the rattlesnake?" |
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Karl is not obsessive compulsive, but this is what is sure to happen when he sees this! |
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Our photographer Dan Gleason flies Karl's T-6G, C-47, King Air's and DeHavilland Dash 8's, but he flunked his type rating check ride in SuperTug because he missed a detail on the preflight. |
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Arizona desert in the spring! |
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4/14/15 |
Great progress has been made but some major challenges remain, especially in the areas of AD compliance and getting the engines running smoothly. |
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It is obvious to those who understand these things that the airplane can't even be ferried to Virginia without AD's being complied with, including the propellers, and Karl at least needs to be confident that compliance is feasible. The Curtiss Electric props have turned out to be quite a project. And of course having four trustworthy engines is pretty important! |
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One interesting little challenge was they're seeing three rattlesnakes one day. I think they keep at least some of the guys a bit on edge, but hey, they were there first! |
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Tim Coons, who had previously worked on Columbine II and similar aircraft, has "the touch" with these engines and has run three at low speed, but obviously they will need to run well at high power. Engine fuel systems are the main challenge and have prevented #4 from running at all. |
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Karl is in the process of sending many engine components out for overhaul including leaking or otherwise malfunctioning fuel master controls, fuel injector pumps, engine driven fuel pumps, fuel flow transmitters and more. |
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Sometimes smoke is beautiful, and it sure was when they got #1 running, as shown in this Scott Glover photo. (Click, to enlarge) |
Dynamic's Dan Gleason sent me a whole bunch of interesting photos and I'll try to post them, probably next week. |
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The flexible hoses have been replaced with new, fire-sleeved units. "Lots of hoses of all sizes - - big job!" |
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They have made progress with the aircraft hydraulic system and have run the flaps, but there are a lot of hydraulics on the Connie and they need to go through the whole system. They need a hydraulic mule for the project. |
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There is still a need for sources for R-3350-75 or 749C18BD-1 engines or parts, and engine cowling, especially the lower cowl/oil cooler scoop, and exhaust systems, either short stacks or with the collector - - anywhere in the world. |
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I'm sure you are looking for "the final word" on the purchase, but that is still to come. It should be clear to all that there is a lot of commitment on Karl/Dynamic's part, and that others such as Scott Glover and his guys have contributed immensely. And Dynamic's Brian Miklos has been an incredible leader and pace-setter for others. The friendship and support of Columbine's neighbor Bill Muszala and his ATW Aviation means a lot too. It really is quite a team effort! Nevertheless, it's a huge and complex project and there are still some significant challenges - - so we'll all have to wait a while longer! |
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Columbine II is a national treasure of sorts, as a reminder of the values of the "America" that it and the late President Dwight D. Eisenhower represented and which are so sorely missed today. It deserves this methodical preparation process in order to assure it can be ferried safely, and then hopefully, operated in a way that it can be enjoyed by many for decades to come. Harry Oliver, present majority owner, understands the process and is working with Karl to help achieve a good end for all. |
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I'll let you know pronto when the "go" decision is made, and there will likely be another update before that. |
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3/24/15 |
The work continues and you can read an updated, detailed report as a WORD Document or PDF. |
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Bottom line, in a March 22 email to Columbine II's owners Karl said, "We have found the airframe to be in quite good condition with very little corrosion but with the normally expected things that you would find with an airplane that was parked outside and subjected to extreme heat."
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He continued: "However the engines needed a lot more work than we expected before we feel comfortable to even run them. We determined very early that we were not going to run them until we had carefully inspected them and made necessary repairs, to give us the best potential to have successful engine runs and ferry." |
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And finally: "Before final acceptance we would like to make sure the engines run, and remove enough floor under the forward and aft potty area to inspect for corrosion as well as confirming AD compliance." It sounds to me like we're on a good track! |
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Scott Glover, of Mid America Flight Museum, sent me these photos last week. |
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Karl Stoltzfus (R) and Scott Glover are two-of-a-kind in several ways. They both like old airplanes and are willing to vest themselves in preserving them for others. And they are both motivated by the sense that these airplanes symbolize American values of their day, many of which we have abandoned. |
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Thirdly, and most importantly, they are both sincere in their Christian faith and their commitment to serve God through the resources He has entrusted to them. |
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Glover's team rode into town in this beautiful Lodestar!! |
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These guys dove into Columbine with both feet and played a crucial role in getting some key work done. |
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As said elsewhere, these big 2500-hp Wright R3350-BD1 engines are taking a lot of time in this process to be sure they are ready for ferry flight. |
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Some nuts and bolts out in the wing needed inspection. I doubt if he was out there in the heat of the day! |
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A shot from the outer end of the wing. |
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And Gregg T. Williams, a member of Glover's team, sent me these photos. |
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Gregg obviously has an artsy eye. I like this one a lot. I had trouble getting thumbnail photos on the rest of his (below) so we'll just do them with links. |
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What a happy looking bunch, both Dynamic and MAFM guys. However, I highly suspect this wasn't at the end of the first day. Karl's Dan Gleason (back row, left, I think) said, "The morale was decidedly low when the team first arrived at the plane a week ago Sunday. The immensity of the task and the unfamiliarity with the plane conspired against us. But as we began to break the project down into bite-sized pieces, and as others came to lend their aid, prospects brightened and so did everyone's spirit. That in turn boosted productivity, and after a week on the ground it began to feel as though we had a reasonable objective in front of us. I trust the progress will remain at a Vx climb, clearing all obstacles. |
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As Karl and I were talking about Columbine recently he asked if I remembered how depressed he was back in 1966 when he and I were driven in a USN Jeep to the five C-47's we and our father had bought at Litchfield Naval Air Facility near Phoenix, AZ. We knew they needed a lot of work but didn't realize how derelict they actually were. Nothing firewall forward on three of them, landing gear and other hydraulics incomplete, oil tanks gone, tail gears incomplete - - and that was only the start. Fortunately for me, Karl is a real mechanic and I'm not, so I was more a helper and 'go-fer but got to fly each one home to PA as they were ready. When I inspected Columbine in Nov. last year I compared it to our '66 project but added, "But most of the pieces are here." |
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Yep, lots going on! Karl built that yellow work cart in the early 1960's, starting with the chassis from a USAF APU cart that had the Lycoming O-290-G engine for power. I have one too. |
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Was he " playing on the job" or getting ready to deliver a cold Pepsi to some guys up on top of the Connie? |
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3/18/15 |
The week of March 8 was very productive, and you can read a detailed report as a WORD Document or PDF. |
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Some people might think such a comprehensive inspection is going overboard, but Karl doesn't do things half-way. And the steps that are necessary to assure a safe ferry flight are well into what would eventually be required for operating the aircraft. For several reasons, including the length of time Columbine II has been parked, his concerns for safety have been confirmed in this process. |
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One example is in pulling the bottoms off of the oil tanks. Each tank produced several fistfuls of black gooey junk! Clean oil tanks and oil screens and filters, new oil hoses and 50-gallons of new oil per engine, will add a lot to the reliability of the engines for the ferry flight. |
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Another example is in replacing all the remaining flexible fluid lines. And in pulling out and servicing the fuel nozzles in the engines, even though that required removing the exhaust. Some of the nozzles were coked, other not properly installed. These are direct-fuel-injection engines. |
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Here's some photos Brian Miklos sent me. Brian is Dynamic Aviation's on-site Project Coordinator and has led projects for Karl in some very challenging corners of the world. He is third from the left in the front row, and Scott Glover, of Mid America Flight Museum is second from the left. Karl was in Idaho for a couple of days for some meetings and missed the photo. |
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Two beautiful Lockheeds! That's Scott's Lodestar in the back. His team is highly qualified on this kind of aircraft, and all came as volunteers on the project! |
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And here's more photos. From left to right: (Click, to enlarge) |
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Exhaust is removed to get to fuel injection nozzles, and hoses |
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The Connie cowl provides some protection from sun or rain! |
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Okay, guess who's been working on the oil tanks! |
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Inspecting and servicing inside the aft fuselage takes a good lift. Dynamic Aviation trucked a full complement of equipment including ladders, work stands and so forth from Virginia. |
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It is impossible to overstate the contribution made by Scott Glover and his crew. Doing this "right" is an immense and intimidating project and it could hardly happen without the good help of others. |
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3/6/15 |
The 53' aircraft field service unit is on its way to Marana! It's loaded with tools, an air compressor, ladders, B1 stand, APU, tug, lights, generator, jacks - - and every kind of servicing equipment and supplies you could think of and more! Included is one 55-gal. drum of oil per engine! |
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The week of March 8th a team of 15 or more technicians and specialists of various kinds from Dynamic Aviation, and Scott Glover's Mid America Flight Museum, will descend upon Columbine II for a serious inspection and servicing of the aircraft, including engine run-ups. A final determination on the viability of the project should be possible by the end of the week, but it would take a major roadblock to stop things now! |
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2/4/15 |
Initial informational email's sent out |
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11/14 |
Two day preliminary inspection of the aircraft |
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